Vacation

This years vacation ended up being an impromptu Family Reunion. The whole flock of Byrd's made it to Cedar for a weekend.

We spent some time up the mountain, afterall it was my camping experience for the year. One night in the camp trailor with electricty, plumbing, gas heat and a shower for 3 nights in a hotel. Totally fair! Jason and Jase had fun relaxing in the hammock.

The boys worked really hard to get a fire going to roast marshmellows. It takes a lot of pine cones to get a real blaze alit, FYI.

The s'mores were finger lickin' good! Yum Yum!!

Here's Jason as a happy camper,
Oh, and here's me as a happy camper....nice!

Actually I had a great time. We got to do some of my favorite outdoor stuff. I love Cedar Mountain, it's one of the best places on Earth. There is a little out of the way trail that leads to a bunch of Bristlecone Pine trees that I just love. It's so quiet and peaceful and the trees are so old and amazing. Oh it was cold up the mountain too, only about 50 in the sun so it was quite a shock to the system. Hence the jackets.

It was Ethan's first experience at Bristlecone. The big tree behind us is estimated to be 4,500 years old. They are really unique trees, because when part of them die other parts can remain alive and continue growing for centuries. They are adapted to grow very slowly and survive drought and heavy winds and snow. They are some of nature's oldest living things. Ok I'll stop, I know I'm a dork. I just get really excited about these silly trees. Ok one more thing.....most only grow at or above 10,000 vertical feet, so they are especially rare.
Here's the view from the little deck we were on. In the distance to the left is Zion National Park. So beautiful.

I apologize in advance for the rear shot here, but it was the best one I could find from this year to show Cedar Breaks. Cedar Breaks is breath taking. It sits at just over 10,000 vertical feet and descends 2,000 feet to the bottom. It is a spectacular sight full of colorful rock formations. Every hue of red and orange can be found within it's walls. Simply beautiful.
We stopped at Navajo Lake for lunch and for the boys to throw rocks. They wanted to know why they couldn't swim. Outdoor temp 51, Water temp frickin' freezing.

We also made it to Bryce Canyon. I know I'm totally sounding like a certified Utah Fan Club member, but bare with me. Bryce is gorgeous. We had planned on doing a nice hike down through the Canyon, but Ethan was being uncooperative. He insisted on walking himself which can be dangerous when you are walking a trail with a couple hundred foot drop along side it. So we opted for some safer trails and still managed to see the best parts of the Canyon. This was on a Bristlecone Pine trail. I know I was totally jacked about it too!!!

Can you tell the boys were totally impressed?

I rounded all my boys up for a quick picture. Kaden wanted to go on a trail that was just off to the left (out of the shot) but there were black bear warnings posted all over it. I love wild life and all, but not so much in the wild. Know what I mean?! Although on the Bristlecone trail Jase nearly walked into a 4 point buck. He didn't even see it! Jason saw the buck first and got ahold of Jase just as the buck sauntered into the trees, it was crazy!

This shot was too cute. Behind the boys is a natural land bridge carved out by thousands of years of water and wind erosion. It's spectacular!
All in all it was a lovely family vacation. We were able to enjoy the kids and watch them just be boys. They grow up so fast and it's always a pleasure to share moments with them that you hope they will remember.